CHAPTER VI 

 THE CANNED PEA INDUSTRY 



Peas were among the first vegetables to be pre- 

 served by canning, and the practice is as old as is 

 the canning industry itself. The invention of the 

 tin can gave the enterprise marked impetus, owing 

 to the reduced cost of production. In America, the 

 pea-canning industry had its birth in Baltimore, 

 Md., in the early fifties. The pea-podding machine, 

 as invented in France, in 1883, and duplicated in 

 America in 1889, and further perfected during the 

 next half dozen years, revolutionized the industry. 

 By means of this machine one person could do the 

 work of 100 or more people in removing the peas 

 from the pods. After improvements of 1893, the 

 device was known as the " vining machine." This 

 machine does away with people going through the 

 fields and picking the pods, as the viner hulls the 

 green peas direct from the vines. 



As generally known, the northeastern and north 

 central states grow most of the peas for canning 

 purposes. Wisconsin and New York are the big 

 leaders, these two states producing perhaps nearly 

 half the entire pack of the country. However, In- 

 diana, Michigan, Maryland and Illinois are liberal 

 producers. The accompanying data 1 shows the 

 pack for the United States in 1907: 



1 Canner and Dried Fruit Packer, December 26, 1907. 



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